THE   SCOTCH-IRISH, 

flM©A  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

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AND 


OTHER  NEIGHBORING  PRECINCTS 

IN  SOUTH  CAKOLINA. 
A  CENTENNIAL  DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED    AT 


NAZARETH  CHURCH,  SPARTANBURG  DISTRICT,  S.  C,     <* » 

SEPTEMBER  14,  1861, 


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By   GEORGE    HOWE,  D.  D., 

PROFESSOR   OF   BIBLICAL  LITERATURE,  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,   COLUMBIA,   S.  C. 


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COLUMBIA,   S.  0.: 

SOUTHERN  GUARDIAN  STEAM-POWER  PRESS. 

1861. 


THE   SCOTCH-IRISH, 


AND    THEIR 


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a£d 

OTHER  NEIGHBORING  PRECINCTS 

IN  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 
A  CENTENNIAL  DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED    AT 

NAZARETH  CHURCH,  SPARTANBURG  DISTRICT,  S.  C, 

SEPTEMBEK  14,  1861, 
By  GEORGE    HOWE,  D.  D., 

PROFESSOR  OF   BIBLICAL  LITERATURE,   THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,   COLUMBLA.,   S.  C. 


COLUMBIA,   S.  C: 

SOUTHERN  GUARDIAN  STEAM-POWER  PRESS. 

1861. 


CORRESPONDENCE 


BEIDYILLE,  October  1,  1861. 
Dear  Sir: 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  appointed  by  the  Naz- 
areth Congregation  to  superintend  their  Centennial  Celebration,  the  under- 
signed were  chosen  a  Committee  to  solicit  from  you  a  copy  of  your  Address, 
for  publication.  We  hope  that  you  will  consent  to  this  request,  inasmuch 
as  it  is  earnestly  desired  by  the  families  composing  the  congregation,  and 
by  several  Ministers  and  Elders  present  from  other  Churches.  With  many 
kind  wishes  for  your  continued  usefulness  and  happiness,  suffer  us  to  present 
to  you  the  thanks  of  the  congregation  we  represent,  for  this  labor  of  love, 
which  was  listened  to  by  a  large  assembly  with  such  manifest  interest  and 
pleasure,  which  contains  so  much  of  the  early  history  of  the  Churches  in 
our  Up-Country,  and  is  so  elegantly  expressed. 

J.  P.   MILLER,     -J 


To  Eev.  George  Howe,  D.  D. 


Gentlemen 


S.  N.  EYINS,  \  Committee. 

JOHN  STROBEL,  J 


COLUMBIA,  October  5,  1861. 


I  accede  to  your  request,  so  kindly  made.  If  the  historic  facts  pre- 
sented in  the  discourse  shall  bring  anew  before  you  and  your  children 
the  virtues  of  your  ancestors,  the  labor  it  may  have  cost  will  not  be  fruit- 
less. Let  us  not  lose  sight  of  the  ruling  principles,  in  Church  and  State, 
for  which  they  contended  and  suffered.  In  this  world  they  are  always 
endangered,  and  for  some  of  them  we  are  again  engaged  in  a  fearful  and 
sanguinary  contest. 

Yery  respectfully,  yours, 

GEORGE  HOWE. 
To  Messrs.  J.  P.  Miller,  S.  N.  Evins,  and  John  Strobel,  Committee. 


DISCOURSE 


There  is  nothing  more  common  to  thoughtful  and  civil- 
ized man,  than  the  disposition  to  inquire  into  the  past,  and 
to  trace  the  race  from  which  we  sprang  to  its  earliest 
beginnings.  But  whoever  attempts  it,  whether  he  be 
plebeian  or  king,  will  find  his  ancestry  lost  in  some  barba- 
rian tribe,  springing  from  others  as  savage  as  itself,  which 
fill  that  pre-historic  period  between  Japheth,  the  son  of 
Noah,  and  modern  times.  Even  the  chosen  seed,  whose  line 
can  be  traced  the  farthest  back,  ends  in  a  race  of  idolaters. 
And,  proud  as  we  justly  are  of  our  immediate  ancestors, 
whether  we  be  Saxon,  Gaul,  or  Gael,  we  shall  find  our- 
selves to  have  sprung  from  pagan  huntsmen,  herdsmen,  or 
fierce  warriors,  who  remained  such  till  they  were  tamed 
and  softened  by  the  true  religion,  and  humanized  by  the 
culture  of  letters. 

The  migration  of  the  Scots,  it  is  believed,  was  through 
north-eastern  Europe,  by  Belgium  and  the  North  of  France, 
to  Ireland.  There  they  certainly  lived  in  the  third  century, 
and  there  they  first  received  the  light  of  Christianity.  In 
the  sixth  century,  a  colony  of  these  Irish  Scots  *  migrated 
to  North  Britain,  and,  settling  in  the  County  of  Argyle, 
established  there  a  kingdom,  subjugated  the  Pictish  tribes 
that  were  before  them,  and  the  ancient  Caledonia  was 
thenceforward  the  land  of  the  Scots,  and  Scot-Land  it 
remains  till  now.  Thither  went  from  Ireland,  in  the  same 
centuiy,  Columba,  surnamed  Saint,  and  established  what 
has  been  called  his  convent,  on  the  island  of  Iona,  but 

*  The  Scoti  Ierni.  See  Claudian,  a  Latin  poet  of  the  fourth  century, 
xxii.,  251 ;  and  Buchanan,  Hist.,  p.  34. 


4  The  Scotch-Irish. 

which  was  much  more  a  school,  under  something  like 
presbyterial  supervision,  for  training  ministers  and  mission- 
aries of  the  Cross.  Such  were  the  ancient  Culdees  of 
Scotland,  "worshippers  of  God,"  who  held  the  pure  doc- 
trines of  God's  Word,  and  the  Presbyterian  government,  a 
thousand  years  before  Calvin  was  born,  when  the  rest  of 
the  world  were  "wondering  after  the  beast."* 

Their  light  glimmered  on  amid  the  darkness  which 
oppressed  the  nations,  nor  wholly  ceased  till  Wickliffe,  the 
morning  star  of  the  Reformation,  arose.  Their  missionary 
labors  were  widely  extended ;  their  schools  scattered  over 
many  countries  of  Europe,  and  attended  by  almost  fabulous 
numbers.  Let  it  be,  even,  that  they  were  of  a  Scythian 
stock,  as  some  have  held,  proverbial  among  the  Greeks  for 
the  extreme  of  barbarism,  they  were  now  a  Christian  and 
intelligent  people,  and  that  unquenchable  fire  of  soul,  and 
courageous  endurance,  which  had  carried  them  forward 
over  such  tracts  of  country,  to  the  farthest  shores  and 
islands  of  Europe,  lived  and  burned  brilliantly  within  them. 

But  the  chilling  influence  of  superstition  at  length  in- 
vaded even  them.  The  priest  became  lord  of  their  con- 
science, and  that  mysterious  darkness  which  arose  from 
Rome,  as  its  centre,  spread  like  the  morning  mists  over  the 
hill-sides  and  crags  of  Scotland,  and  settled  gloomily 
and  heavily  upon  its  lochs,  and  glens,  and  romantic  valleys, 
over  highland  and  lowland  alike. 

At  length  the  day  of  Scotland's  deliverance  came.  The 
voice  of  Luther  awoke  new  echoes  on  those  shores. 
Patrick  Hamilton,  a  youth  of  royal  lineage,  of  attractive  and 

*  Their  opposition  to  Rome  may  be  judged  of  by  the  following  extract 
from  the  poems  of  Talliessin,  who  is  supposed  to  have  lived  about  A.  D.  620 : 

"Wo  be  to  that  priest  yborn, 
That  will  not  cleanly  weed  his  corn, 

And  preach  his  charge  among : 
"Wo  be  to  that  sheperd,  I  say, 
That  will  not  watch  his  fold  alway, 

As  to  his  office  doth  belong : 
"Wo  be  to  him  that  doth  not  Keepe 
From  Romish  wolves  his  erring  sheepe, 
With  staff  and  weapon  strong." 
Usher,  Religion  of  the  Ancient  Irish,  p.  83,  where  the  original  Gaelic  may  be  seen. 
See,  also,  Mason's  Primitive  Christianity  in  Ireland,  p.  43. 


The  Scotch-Irish.  5 

polished  manners,  and  cultivated  mind,  a  friend  of  Luther 
and  Melancthon,  whom  he  had  visited  at  "Wittemberg,  was 
burned  at  the  stake — Scotland's  first  martyr — exclaiming, 
"How  long,  O  Lord,  shall  darkness  cover  this  realm? 
How  long  wilt  Thou  sutler  this  tyranny  of  man?"  A 
"shrewd  and  canny  Scot"  advised  the  Archbishop,  when  he 
burned  any  more,  to  burn  them  in  cellars,  "  for  the  smoke,'' 
said  he,  "of  Mr.  Patrick  Hamilton  hath  infected  as  many  as 
it  blew  upon."  Other  martyrdoms,  however,  followed. 
Helen  Starke,  after  witnessing  the  execution  of  her  hus- 
band, was  strangled  in  a  pool  of  water.  George  Wishart, 
a  man  of  noble  birth,  before  whom  crowded  audiences 
wept,  glowed,  and  trembled,  as  he  preached,  was  burned 
at  the  stake.  John  Knox  would  have  accompanied  him  in 
his  hour  of  danger,  but  "Wishart  forbade  him.  "  Go  back 
to  your  pupils;  one  is  sufficient  for  one  sacrifice." 

This  same  Knox  became  the  man  of  his  age  in  Scotland; 
her  great  Reformer.  He  was  the  man,  valiant  for  truth,  of 
whom  the  Regent  Morton,  himself  of  the  dauntless  race 
of  Douglas,  as  he  looked  thoughtfully  into  his  grave, 
said,  "  There  lies  he  who  never  feared  the  face  of  man." 
Noble  prototype  was  he  of  his  fearless  countrymen,  at 
whose  return  to  Scotland  from  his  exile,  consternation 
seized  the  enemies  of  the  Reformation.  "John  Knox! 
John  Knox  is  come!  .he  slept  last  night  at  Edinburgh!" 
was  the  frantic  cry  which  announced  the  ruin  of  their 
plans. 

On  the  third  of  December,  1557,  the  first  covenant,  in 
this  land  of  covenants,  was  signed.  In  1560  the  first 
General  Assembly  was  held.  Out  of  a  weekly  exercise,  or 
prophesying,  conducted  by  the  ministers,  exhorters,  and 
educated  men  of  the  vicinity,  met  for  expounding  the 
Scriptures,  grew  the  classical  Presbytery.  To  this  was 
added  the  provincial  Synod,  and  the  whole  order  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  stood  at  length  revealed. 

James  I.  wa3  the  first  Presbyterian  king  ef  Scotland,  and 
right  lustily  did  he  promise,  till  he  became  sovereign  of 


6  The  Scotch-Irish. 

England,  when  his  cry  at  once  was:  "Xo  bishop,  no  king!" 
TTe  are  indebted  to  this  inconsistent,  corrupt,  and  pedantic 
monarch  for  two  measures  of  incalculable  good.  One  was, 
the  setting  on  foot  the  English  version  of  the  Scriptures, 
from  him  called  King  James'  version,  which,  however,  had 
been  suggested  both  by  the  Scotch  Assembly  and  by  the 
English  Puritans.  The  other  is,  the  project,  attempted  in 
1559  and  1572,  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  the  counties  of 
Down  and  Antrim,  of  colonizing  the  northern  provinces 
of  Ireland  with  a  Protestant  people.  Reasons  of  State 
determined  him  to  discountenance  the  Roman  Catholic 
religion,  especially  in  Ireland.  Several  of  the  jSTorthern 
nobles  resented  his  determination,  and  conspired  against 
his  government.  Their  lands  were  confiscated,  and  reverted 
to  the  crown.  These  territories  James,  with  great  wisdom, 
arranged  to  plant  with  English  and  Scottish  colonies ;  and 
he  resolved  to  replace  its  scattered,  miserable,  and  turbu- 
lent population  with  the  adherents  of  a  purer  faith.  The 
country  was  exceedingly  desolate,  and  covered  with  innu- 
merable woods  and  marshes.  Its  towns  and  villages  had 
been  levelled  with  the  ground — its  herds  and  products 
swept  away  by  the  war.  Little  remained  except  the  isolated 
castles  of  the  English,  and  the  miserable  huts  of  the  natives, 
suffering  under  the  evils  of  pestilence  and  famine.  The 
escheated  lands  were  disposed  of  to  English,  Scottish,  and 
Irish  undertakers  of  the  crown,  who  agreed  to  colonize 
them.  From  the  proximity  of  the  country  to  Scotland,  the 
Scotch  settlers  greatly  predominated.  They  were  a  hardier 
people,  stood  the  climate  better,  had  fewer  inducements  at 
home,  and  were  more  favored  by  the  king.  Londonderry, 
Coleraine,  and  Belfast,  were  planted  by  the  English,  chiefly, 
but  the  counties  of  Down  and  Antrim  were  settled  by  the 
Montgomeries  and  Hamiltons  of  Scotland,  who  brought 
over  many  Scotch  gentlemen  and  farmers. 

Thus,  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  a  thousand  years,  the 
Scots,  whom  Ireland  gave  to  Caledonia  of  old,  came  back 
again  to  occupy  their  ancestral  homes,  and  the  Irish  Scots, 


The  Scotch-Irish.  7 

as  they  were  called  in  the  sixth  century,  became  the  Scotch- 
Irish  of  the  seventeenth. 

There  came,  also,  in  the  first  third  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, several  noble  ministers  from  Scotland,  and  some  from 
England,  under  whose  labors  religion  was  greatly  revived, 
and  conversions  were  multiplied.  "  Preaching  and  pray- 
ing," says  Livingston,  "were  pleasant  in  those  days." 
"And  it  was  sweet  and  easy  for  people  to  come  thirty  or 
forty  miles  to  the  solemn  communions  they  had."  Though 
Presbyterian  in  doctrine  and  discipline,  they  were,  at  first, 
nominally  comprehended  within  the  pale  of  the  Established 
Church  of  England,  enjoying  its  emoluments  and  dignities, 
under  the  generous  and  friendly  toleration  of  Archbishop 
Usher. 

This-  season  of  loving  kindness  did  not  always  last. 
Under  Laud,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  came  persecution, 
and  the  Scotch-Irish  began  to  look  to  America  for  an 
asylum.  The  "  black  oath,"  so  called  from  its  direful  conse- 
quences, was  administered  by  Wentworth,  Lord  Lieuten- 
ant, for  these  services  made  Earl  of  Stafford,  who  imprisoned 
and  heavily  fined  even  women  who  refused  to  take  it.  He 
even  conceived  the  idea  of  banishing  all  the  Presbyterians 
from  Ulster.  Afterwards  came  the  Irish  rebellion,  in 
which  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  Protestants  perished, 
during  which  the  famous  seige  of  Deny  occurred,  whose 
defence  is  still  read  with  all  the  interest  of  romance.  It 
was  then  the  Scotch  sent  over  an  army  to  Ireland,  with 
Chaplains  in  every  regiment.  "With  the  concurrence  of 
the  Colonels,  these  Chaplains  appointed  Church  sessions  in 
each  regiment.  In  the  four  regiments  stationed  at  Car- 
rickfergus,  the  ministers  found  themselves  in  a  condition 
to  hold  a  Presbytery ;  which,  accordingly,  was  held  on  the 
10th  of  June,  1642,  and  was  the  first  Presbytery  regularly 
constituted  in  Ireland. 

It  was  more  than  one  hundred  years  after  this  before 
this  upper  country  of  South  Carolina  was  settled.  But 
the  Scottish  settlers  in  the  North  of  Ireland  were,  mean- 


8  The  Scotch-Irish. 

while,  extending  their  cords  and  strengthening  their  stakes 
in  their  Irish  home,  bringing  back  to  the  Erin  of  their 
remote  ancestry  that  pnre  faith  and  form  of  Church  polity, 
which  these,  a  thousand  years  before,  ere  yet  they  were 
overlaid  by  Rome,  gave  to  North  Britain,  and  made  it,  even 
then,  a  land  of  learning  and  piety.  Her  ministers  were 
still  educated  in  Scotland.  She  sympathized  with  all  of 
Scotland's  sufferings,  wrongs,  and  tears,  though  the  hand 
of  persecution  did  not  press  as  heavily  upon  her.  A  bright 
example  was  set  before  the  Scotch-Irish  by  the  country  out 
of  which  they  had  come.  The  measures  set  on  foot  by  the 
Reformers  for  the  settlement  of  schools,  made  the  Scotch 
superior  in  intelligence  to  any  other  nation  in  Europe. 
"  If  a  Scotchman  was  taken  into  a  warehouse  as  a  porter, 
he  soon  became  foreman,"  says  the  historian,  Macaulay. 
"If  he  enlisted  in  the  army,  he  soon  became  a  sergeant." 
And,  in  spite  of  her  barren  soil,  Scotland  made  astonishing 
progress  in  all  the  arts  of  civilization.  The  same  was 
true  of  the  Scotch-Irish  on  the  green  shores  of  Erin.  If 
they  could  not  establish  their  schools  by  law,  they  could  by 
private  effort.  And  the  province  of  Ulster,  which  their 
fathers  found  a  wilderness,  they  have  covered  with  beauty. 
The  South  of  Ireland  is  profusely  blessed  in  the  gifts  of 
nature,  in  a  far  richer  soil,  and  a  milder  and  more  genial 
climate;  the  whole,  indeed,  is  an  emerald  set  in  the  flash- 
ing ocean.  The  North  is  rougher,  colder,  and  less  genial, 
and  yet,  as  you  enter  the  province  of  Ulster,  you  have  left 
the  region  of  filthy  cabins,  sturdy  beggars,  dilapidated 
villages,  and  wretched,  neglected  farms,  and  fields  of 
sluggards,  luxuriant  with  thorns  and  thistles;  and  you 
enter  a  territory  of  rich  culture,  of  comfortable  dwellings, 
aad  thriving  towns.  You  have  passed  from  a  land  of 
joyous,  often,  but  yet  careless  idleness,  where  the  pig,  cow, 
and  child,  herd  together  in  miserable  hovels,  into  a  province 
where  the  diligent  husbandman,  the  enterprising  merchant, 
the  intelligent,  plodding  mechanic,  are  found,  and  the  vir- 
tuous housewife,  who  "  seeketh  wool  and  flax,  and  worketh 


The  Scotch-Irish.  9 

diligently  with  her  hands,"  who  "layeth  her  hands  to  the 
spindle,  and  her  hands  hold  the  distaff,"  who  "  maketh  fine 
linen,  and  selleth  it,  and  clelivereth  girdles  unto  the  mer- 
chant;"  and  "whose  candle  goeth  not  out  by  night."  It 
is  the  land  of  your  Presbyterian  ancestors,  inhabited  by  a 
race  instinct  with  the  sense  of  right,  and  hatred  of  oppres- 
sion ;  of  an  instructed,  and  not  superstitious,  conscience ; 
educated  in  a  pure  faith,  versed  in  that  vigorous  theology 
which  .  Augustine,  Calvin,  and  Knox,  professed;  their 
understanding,  and  reason  addressed  by  an  educated  min- 
istry on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  their  household  virtues  stim- 
ulated and  formed  by  the  voice  of  praise  and  prayer  at  the 
domestic  hearth.  Behold  your  ancestors !  Behold  their 
country,  and  their  religion,  which  have  made  them  what 
they  are ! 

Their  love  of  adventure,  their  crowded  population,  and 
the  religious  disabilities  under  which  the  Government  some- 
times placed  them,  led  many  to  seek  in  the  colonies  of 
America  a  new  home,  where  they  might  again  take  root. 

The  older  parts  of  Carolina  had,  almost  from  the  begin- 
ning, some  few  representatives  from  the  North  of  Ireland. 
From  the  year  1735  they  came  in  larger  colonies,  and 
settled  in  Williamsburg,  below,  spreading  themselves  con- 
stantly further,  over  Sumter,  Darlington,  Marion  and  Horry. 
Pennsylvania  was,  to  them,  also,  a  favorite  resort.  They 
first  settled  in  Buck's  County,  north-east  of  Philadelphia, 
and  then  stretched  westward,  in  Chester,  Lancaster,  and 
York,  to  the  haunts  of  the  wild  Indian,  with  whom  they 
came,  at  last,  into  terrible  collision.  Their  ministers  were 
nearly  all  of  liberal  education.  Some  had  taken  their 
degrees  in  Scotland,  and  some  in  Ireland.  Among  them 
were  the  Tennents,  Blairs,  Francis  Allison,  Beaty ;  and  of 
American  birth,  educated  in  the  Scotch-Irish  schools  and 
colleges,  Drs.  Stanhope  Smith,  Patrick  Allison,  and  others; 
civilians  also,  Judges  Breckenridge  and  McKean,  Chief 
Justice  Williamson  the  historian  of  North  Carolina,  and 
2 


10  The  Scotch-Irish. 

Dr.  Ramsay  the  historian  of  our  own  State ;  distinguished 
Generals  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution  too  numerous  to 
mention ;  Robert  Fulton,  who  applied  steam  to  the  pro- 
pelling of  vessels ;  and  many  divines  and  civilians  distin- 
guished in  the  history  of  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  North 
Carolina. 

The  emigration  of  Scotch-Irish  into  the  Up-Country  of 
North  and  South  Carolina  was  from  Pennsylvania,  either 
by  gradual  migration  of  families  through  the  mountain 
valleys  of  Virginia  and  southward,  or  by  a  direct  removal ; 
or  from  Ireland  to  the  port  of  Charleston,  and  by  wagon, 
pack-horse,  or  often  on  foot,  to  their  settlements  here. 

The  line  of  emigration  from  Pennsylvania  was  through 
Kittatinny  valley,  west  of  the  Susquehanna,  to  the  Potomac, 
and  through  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  southward.  To 
how  large  an  extent  our  population  was  introduced  from 
this  source,  the  names  of  Lancaster,  York,  and  Chester, 
from  counties  of  the  same  name  in  Pennsylvania,  them- 
selves show. 

This  was  the  earliest  emigration  into  the  upper  portion  of 
this  State,  and,  as  it  preceded  the  present  division  of  coun- 
ties, which  did  not  occur  till  the  year  1798,  and  also  the 
division  into  precincts,  which  dates  back  to  the  year  1769, 
we  will  designate  the  settlements  by  other  and  more 
ancient  names.  The  earliest  of  them  all  was  "  The  Wax- 
haws,"  called  from  the  tribe  of  Indians  who  have  given 
name  to  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Catawba.  Another 
famous  settlement  was  "The  Long  Canes,"  in  a  direction 
south-west  from  the  other.  The  earliest  date  of  the  first 
of  these  settlements  appears  to  have  been  the  year  1745 ; 
the  date  of  the  latter  is  not  exactly  known.  Two  families, 
of  Gowdy  and  Edwards,  were  found  in  it  by  Patrick  Cal- 
houn, and  those  who  came  with  him,  in  the  year  1756. 
Gowdy  was  an  Irishman,  and  seems  to  have  settled  in  the 
neighborhood  of  old  Cambridge,  about  1750.  Both  of 
these  names,  " The  "Waxhaws "  and  "Long  Canes,"  were, 
in  usage,  of  indefinite  extent. 


The  Scotch- Irish.  11 

If  we  look  across  the  State  from  the  "Waxhaw  settlement, 
in  a  south-western  direction,  we  find,  to  the  right  of  a  line 
drawn  to  Gowdy's,  in  Abbeville,  the  present  districts  of 
York,  Union,  and  Spartanburg,  the  greater  portion  of 
Chester,  the  north-west  part  of  dewberry,  the  whole 
of  Laurens  and  Abbeville,  and  the  newer  districts  of 
Greenville,  Anderson,  and  Pickens.  Of  these  districts, 
Lancaster  will  appear  to  have  been  the  first  settled ;  Ches- 
ter, Spartanburg,  and  Laurens,  to  have  been  settled  in  1749 
or  1750 ;  Newberry,  to  have  been  settled  in  1752* — though 
Judge  O'Neal  dates  the  settlement  of  Adam  Summer,  in 
the  Dutch  Fork,  in  1745— Union  and  Pendleton,  in  1755; 
Abbeville,  in  1756;  York,  in  1760,  and  Greenville,  in  1766. 

The  first  very  distinct  notice  of  settlers  on  Waxhaw  was 
in  May,  1751,  when  six  or  seven  families  came  thither  from 
the  North.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  a  few  more  joined 
them,  and  a  considerable  number  early  in  1752,  chiefly 
from  Augusta  County,  Virginia,  and  the  back  part  of 
Pennsylvania.  The  first  grant  of  land  to  Robt.  McElhenny 
dates  in  1751,  and  the  first  sermon  preached  among  them 
was  in  February,  1753,  by  John  Brown,  then  a  probationer. 

On  the  western  side  of  the  Catawba,  on  the  waters  of 
Fishing  Creek,  settlements  were  made  of  Scotch-Irish  from 
Pennsylvania  at  nearly  the  same  date — 1748, 1749, 1750,  and 
1751 — and  the  same  minister,  Mr.  John  Brown,  preached 
the  first  sermon  of  which  we  have  any  record  among  this 
people,  at  Landsford,  on  the  Catawba,  a  point  intermediate 
between  them  and  the  settlement  on  the  Waxhaw.  The 
Church  here  established  was  called,  to  distinguish  it  from 
another  higher  up  the  stream,  and  which  was  formed  a 
little  later,  Lower  Fishing  Creek,  and,  subsequently,  after 
its  pastor,  Richardson's  Church,  and  is  now  known,  its 
location  having  been  somewhat  changed,  as  Cedar  Shoals. 
The  settlement  extended  itself  higher  up  the  stream,  and 

*  The  date  of  the  settlement  on  Duncan's  Creek. 


12  The  Scotch-Irish. 

gave  rise  to  another  Church,  which  bears  the  name  Fishing 
Creek  at  this  day.* 

The  settlement  and  Church  in  Union  District  was  not 
quite  so  early.  Its  first  planting  was  in  the  years  1751  and 
1755,  by  Scotch-Irish  emigrants  from  Pennsylvania,  who 
had  lived  under  the  ministry  of  Eev.  Mr.  Cathcart.  Sev- 
eral heads  of  families,  among  whom  were  the  names  of 
Brandon,  Bogan,  Jolly,  Kennedy,  McJunkin,  Young,  Cun- 
ningham, Savage,  Hughs,  Vance,  Wilson,  settled  in  these 
then  uninhabited  wilds.  They  first  lived  in  tents,  and 
then  erected  cabins.  Several  of  these  households  were 
persons  of  true  piety.  They  frequently  met  on  the  Lord's 
day  for  reading  the  Scriptures,  prayer  and  religious  con- 
versation, looking  wishfully  for  the  time  when  they  should 
be  visited  by  ministers  of  their  own  faith.  They  subse- 
quently erected  a  Church  on  Brown's  Creek,  about  four 
miles  from  Unionville,  on  the  Pinckneyville  road.  This 
house  of  worship  was  intended  to  be  used  b}<  Presbyterians 
and  Episcopalians  in  common,  and  hence  was  called  "The 
Union  Church."  It  seems  to  have  been  a  place  of  some 
note,  since  the  name  was  transferred  to  the  county,  and  is 
now  borne  by  the  district,  and  the  village  which  is  the  seat 
of  justice. 

Earlier  than  this,  and  parallel  in  point  of  time  with  the 
Pishing  Creek,  and  almost  with  the  Waxhaw,  was  the  set- 
tlement of  the  Scotch-Irish  on  the  confines  of  the  present 
districts  of  Spartanburg  and  Union,  upon  the  Fairforest,  a 
tributary  of  the  Tyger  River.  It  elates  its  origin  from  the 
settlement  of  seven  or  eight  families  from  Lancaster  county, 
Pennsylvania,  who  migrated  to  this  spot  from  the  years 
1751  to  1754,  in  which  year  they  were  visited  by  the  Pev. 

*  Between  the  two  there  appears  at  one  time  to  have  been  a  middle  Fish- 
ing Creek  Church,  which  became  afterwards  absorbed  in  Kichardson  Church- 
Catholic  Church,  on  Kocky  Creek,  to  the  right  of  our  line,  was  settled 
inl758;(?)  organized  in  1759  by  Mr.  Kichardson;  called  and  settled  James 
Campbell  as  their  pastor  in  1772,  and  enjoyed  his  ministry  for  a  year  and  a 
half,  in  connection  with  the  neighboring  Church  of  Purity. 


The  Scotch-Irish.  13 

Joseph  Tate,  their  pastor  in  Donegal,  Lancaster  county, 
whence  they  had  emigrated. 

Outside  of  the  limits  of  Union  District,  within  the  con- 
fines of  Newberry,  and  yet  connected  with  the  waters  of 
the  Tyger  and  the  Enoree,  was  an  early  Church,  now,  per- 
haps, almost  forgotten,  known  as  the  Grassy  Spring  Church. 
Its  original  founders,  also,  emigrated  from  Pennsylvania, 
were  Scotch-Irish  by  race,  and  of  the  Presbyterian  faith, 
and  settled  on  the  Enoree,  Indian  Creek,  and  Tyger  River, 
which  are  near  each  other  in  this  part  of  the  State.  This 
settlement  was  made  from  the  years  1749  to  1758,  and  from 
these  various  localities  they  met  together  at  the  Grassy 
Spring  Church  to  worship  the  God  of  their  fathers. 

Duncan's  Creek,  in  Laurens,  (waters  of  the  Enoree,)  was 
not  far  off.  The  settlement  upon  it  was  by  Scotch-Irish 
from  Pennsylvania,  chiefly,  in  the  year  1758.  They  built  a 
house  of  worship  in  1763  or  1764.  Little  Eiver  Church, 
near  the  line  between  Laurens  and  Newberry,  was  organ- 
ized in  1764.  Bethel,  in  York,  and  Bethesda,  are  nearly 
of  the  same  date.  Bullock's  Creek,  in  the  south-west 
corner  of  the  same  district,  1769  or  1770,  and  a  few  other 
Churches  in  the  Up-Country  date  previous  to  the  Revo- 
lution. 

Among  these  Churches  stands  the  Nazareth  Church,  in 
whose  bounds  wTe  are  now  assembled.  Eight,  ten,  or 
twelve  families  settled  here,  on  the  waters  of  Tyger 
River,  near  its  source,  between  the  years  1760  and  1765. 
The  Word  of  God  was  precious  to  them,  and,  as  early  as 
1766,  they  obtained  supplies,  who  preached  the  Gospel 
among  them,  occasionally,  at  least,  ai^d,  as  an  early  but 
brief  history  of  this  Church*  informs  us,  was  soon  after 
organized.     The  more  exact  date  of  this  organization  is 

*  MS.  History  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  prepared  by 
a  committee  of  the  same,  appointed  in  October,  1808,  consisting  of  Ecv. 
John  B.  Kennedy,  Dr.  Waddel,  and  Eev.  Hugh  Dickson.  Minutes  of 
Second  Presbytery,  October,  1808,  pp.  123,  124  ;   April,  1809,  p.  134. 


14  The  Scotch-Irish. 

ascertained  to  be  the  Spring  of  1772.*  The  names  of  the 
families  honored  as  the  founders  of  this  community  are 
Anderson,  Miller,  Barry,  Moore,  Collins,  Thompson,  Ver- 
non, Pearson,  Jamison,  Dodd,  Ray,  Penny,  MeMahon, 
Nichol,  Xesbitt,  and  Patton.  These  were  the  names  of 
the  settlers  migrating,  directly  or  indirectly,  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  their  first  homes  in  America  were. 

Into  this  goodly  country  these  men,  in  most  instances, 
no  doubt,  accompanied  with  their  wives  and  children, 
came  to  set  up  their  tabernacle.  It  was,  indeed,  a  goodly 
land,  a  "land  of  rivers  of  water,"  "of  springs  sent  into  the 
vallies  which  run  among  the  hills,"  of  forests  goodly  like 
Lebanon,  or  the  oaks  of  Bashan,  with  their  grassy  carpet 
or  their  tangled  vines ;  of  wooded  mountains,  or  rolling 
hills,  or  undulating  plains,  or  prairies  covered  with  a  rich 
growth  of  cane.  The  margins  of  many  streams  almost 
equalled  the  cane-brakes  of  the  South-West.  These  facts 
are  established  by  the  names  which  many  of  the  streams  in 
the  Up-Country  still  bear,  as  Reedy  River,  Reedy  Fork, 
Cane  Creek,  and  Long  Canes.  The  cane  growth  of  the 
country  was,  we  are  told,  the  standard,  to  many,  of  the  fer- 
tility of  the  soil,  a  growth  twenty  or  thirty  feet  high  de- 
noting the  highest  fertility,  and  that  no  higher  than  a  man's 
head,  a  more  ordinary  soil.f  And  the  tradition  is  preserved 
that  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Tyger  River  received  its 
name  from  the  scene  of  woodland  beauty  which  burst  upon 
the  view  of  the  first  emigrants.  George  Story  and  James 
Mcllwaine,  if  we  have  their  names  aright,  had  encamped  on 
a  commanding  eminence ;  a  beautiful  valley  stretched  far 
in  the  distance,  a  grove  of  lofty  trees  concealed  the  mean- 
dering of  a  stream  which  fertilized  the  tract  below.  The 
rays  of  the  declining  sun  shed  their  departing  beams  on  the 
tree-tops  that  waved  over  the  wide  amphitheatre  in  the 
evening  breeze.     One  of  the  two,  Mcllwaine,  it  is  said, 

*  By  a  cotemporary  record  in  a  Family  Bible,  still  preserved, 
f  Logan's  History  of  Upper  South  Carolina,  p.  11. 


The  Scotch-Irish.  15 

exclaimed:  "What  a  fair  forest  this  !"  The  name  attached 
itself  to  the  place,  and  then  to  the  bold  and  lovely  stream, 
which,  rising  in  the  mountains,  sweeps  on,  dispensing  fer- 
tility and  refreshment  to  the  central  portions  of  this  and 
the  neighboring  districts  below.* 

These  forests  were  not  unpeopled.  The  buffalo,  deer, 
and  other  wild  game,  the  panther,  f  the  wild-cat,  the  wolf 
and  bear,  and  other  beasts  of  prey,  filling  the  night  with 
their  dismal  cries,  roamed  through  them ;  the  beaver, 
architect  and  engineer  together,  built  his  works  across  the 
cold  streams,  and  birds  of  varied  plumage  sang  through  the 
day  and  night  around  them. 

The  occupation  of  the  hunter,  the  herdsman,  and  the 
farmer,  were  sometimes  distinct,  but  in  many  instances,  or 
in  most,  united  in  the  same  person.  A  large  trade  in 
peltry  was  carried  on  in  the  early  history  of  this  colony, 
through  the  port  of  Charleston,  and  to  obtain  the  hides 
and  skins,  valued  in  Europe,  many  a  huntsman,  beside  the 
native  Indian,  coursed  through  these  primeval  forests.  The 
occupation  of  the  herdsman,  too,  was  largely  followed, 
and  cow-pens,  or  ranches,  for  cattle  and  those  who  reared 
them,  were  established  at  different  points.  One  of  them 
has  become  historic  as  the  scene  of  a  decisive  battle  of  the 
Revolution,  in  which  some  of  your  ancestors  took  part. 
The  unerring  rifle  could  in  a  short  time  supply  the  table  with 
abundant  food  for  several  days,  and  to  the  hardy  yeoman 
life  in  the  woods  was  not  without  its  charms  and  sources 
of  improvement;  developing  that  self-reliant,  independ- 
ent, and  heroic  character,  which  is  rarely  to  be  found  in 
the  din  of  cities.     If  they  were  not  clothed  in  soft  raiment, 

*  See,  for  this  tradition,  "Major  Joseph  McJunkin,  or  Original  Sketches 
of  the  Kevolutionary  History  of  South  Carolina,"  Watchman  and  Observer, 
Sept.  21,  1849.    These  valuable  papers  are  from  the  pen  of  Eev.  Jas.  H.  Saye. 

f  Commonly  called  tiger  in  this  State.  The  Tyger  Kiver  is  said  to  have 
derived  its  name  from  a  battle  which  took  place  on  its  banks  between  a 
tiger  and  a  bear,  in  which  the  tiger  was  victor.  The  old  orthography  is 
retained  in  the  name  of  the  river.  The  Indian  name  was  Amoyeschee. — 
Mills'  Statistics,  p.  762. 


16  The  Scotch-Irish. 

they  wore  the  more  serviceable  vestments  domestic  industry 
provided — the  deer-skin  moccasin,  and  the  products  of  the 
wheels  and  looms  of  their  wives  and  daughters.  If  they 
lacked  some  of  the  far-fetched  delicacies  modern  appetite 
craves,  their  tables  were  loaded  with  abundance,  and  with 
food  which  the  city  epicure  now  seeks  for  at  a  great  price. 

The  first  settlers  had  the  choice  of  lands  in  this  part  of 
the  State,  and  it  has  been  remarked  that  the  Scotch-Irish 
from  Pennsylvania,  who  had  some  experience  of  America, 
and  were,  also,  first  on  the  soil  of  these  upper  districts, 
were  more  favorably  located  than  those  who  came  after- 
wards, directly  from  the  North  of  Ireland,  through  the  port 
of  Charleston.  Whether  it  were  so  in  this  community,  we 
know  not.  But  in  1767  or  1768,  other  families  came  here 
direct  from  Ireland,  receiving  their  head-right  of  one  hun- 
dred acres,  and  supplied  with  the  most  indispensable  im- 
plements of  agriculture  by  the  Colonial  Government. 
These  families  bore  the  names  of  Caldwell,  Coan,  Snoddy, 
Peden,  Alexander,  Gaston,  Norton,  and  others.  The  same 
was  true  elsewhere.  The  Irish  element  succeeded  the  first 
immigration  of  the  Pennsylvania  Irish. 

These  settlements  must  have  been  greatly  dependent,  at 
first,  on  themselves  for  religious  worship.  But  they  were 
encouraged  and  strengthened  by  visits  of  ministers  from 
abroad.  The  Waxhaw  people  were  visited  in  February, 
1753,  by  Mr.  John  Brown,  a  probationer  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  in  1754,  by  'Rev.  Mr.  Rae,  of  Williamsburg 
Church,  in  the  Low-Country,  and  by  Mr.  Tate,  of  the  Synod 
of  Philadelphia.  In  the  same  year  the  Rev.  Daniel  Thane, 
of  New  Jers"ey,  sent  out  to  the  new  settlements  by  the 
Synod  of  New  York,  preached  either  here,  at  Fishing  Creek, 
or  Fairforest,  under  a  spreading  oak.  In  1755  they  heard 
the  Gospel  from  the  lips  of  Messrs.  Hogg,  Hugh  McAclen, 
and  others.  Mr.  McAden  preached  to  that  people  in  No- 
vember of  this  year,  and  at  Fishing  Creek,  and  so  did 
Messrs.  Brown  and  Rae,  whose  names  are  distinctly  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  this  Church.     Mr.  McAden  also 


The  Scotch-Irish  17 

preached  at  James  Atterson's  (Otterson's)  on  Tyger  River, 
a  few  miles  above  Hamilton's  Ford,  and  at  James  Love's, 
on  Broad  River. 

At  this  time  the  Waxhaw  and  Fishing  Creek  congrega- 
tions put  themselves  under  the  care  of  the  Old  (Scotch 
Presbytery  of  Charleston,  with  the  view  of  obtaining  min- 
isters from  Scotland.  Robert  Miller,  from  Scotland,  who 
had  been  occupied  in  teaching,  and  had  been  licensed  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  was  called  and  ordained  as 
their  minister  in  175G.  He  was  a  lively  and  popular 
preacher,  but  in  a  little  more  than  a  twelvemonth  was  de- 
posed for  irregularity  of  conduct.  The  congregation  were 
dependent  on  various  supplies,  till,  in  1759,  they  settled  as 
their  pastor  the  Rev.  Wm.  Richardson,  of  Egremont,  Eng- 
land, a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Glasgow,  who  came 
to  America  in  1750,  and  resided  for  a  season  with  the  cele- 
brated Samuel  Davies,  in  Virginia.  He  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Martin  had  been  sent  out  by  a  society  in  ]STew  England  and 
one  in  Scotland,  acting  conjointly,  as  missionaries  to  the 
Cherokee  upper  towns  in  this  State.  The  Cherokees  took 
up  arms  against  the  whites,  and  Mr.  Richardson  became 
pastor  of  the  Waxhaw  Church,  having  been  ordained  to 
this  end  by  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston.  This  energetic 
and  faithful  minister,  besides  serving  his  own  congrega- 
tions, travelled  far  and  wide  over  this  new  country,  preach- 
ing, organizing  Churches,  and  administering  the  ordinances 
of  God's  house. 

But  now  came  a  season  of  dreadful  trial  to  these  devoted 
people.  The  Indian  tribes,  which  almost  surrounded  them, 
became  incensed  against  the  whites,  and  rose  in  arms  to 
destroy  them.  The  inhabitants  of  Long  Canes,  in  Abbe- 
ville, fled  for  refuge  to  the  older  and  more  settled  parts  of 
the  country.  A  party,  of  whom  Patrick  Calhoun  was  one, 
who  were  removing  their  wives  and  children  and  more 
valuable  effects  to  Augusta,  were  attacked  by  the  Chero- 
kees, on  February  1st,  1760,  and,  according  to  cotem- 
3 


18  The  Scotch-Irish. 

porary  journals,  some  Mtj  persons — according  to  other 
accounts,  twenty-two  persons — mostly  women  and  children, 
were  slain,  and  fourteen  carried  into  captivity.  After  the 
massacre,  many  children  were  found  wandering  in  the 
woods.  One  man  brought  fourteen  of  these  young  fugi- 
tives into  Augusta,  some  of  whom  had  been  cut  with  toma- 
hawks and  left  for  dead.  Others  were  found  on  the  bloody 
field,  scalped,  but  living  still.  Patrick  Calhoun,  who  re- 
turned to  the  spot  to  bury  the  dead,  found  twenty  dead 
bodies,  inhumanly  mangled.  The  Indians  had  set  fire  to 
the  woods,  and  had  rifled  the  carts  and  wagons,  thirteen  in 
number.*  This  sad  news  filled  the  whole  province  with 
consternation,  and  the  miserable  fugitives,  who  sought 
refuge  at  Waxhaw  and  in  the  Low-Country,  dependent  on 
the  charities  of  friends,  were  living  witnesses  of  these 
deeds  of  barbarity.  The  Cherokees  crossed  the  Enoree  in 
this  vicinity,  if  not  then,  yet  later,  compelling  your  fathers 
to  establish  "forted"  houses  in  different  localities,  to  which 
they  could  resort  for  defence.  The  children  of  Mrs. 
Hampton,  and  Messrs.  James  Eeid,  John  Miller,  Orr  and 
Anderson,  fell  victims  to  Indian  violence.  In  the  old  con- 
gregation of  Grassy  Spring  several  were  brutally  murdered. 
A  stockade  fort  was  built  for  protection  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  Otterson.  Into  this  the  Quakers,  also,  fled  for  refuge, 
but  would   not  take  up   arms.     "While  here  the  Presby- 

*  This  attack  was  made  on  February  1st,  1760,  on  a  descent  just  before 
reaching  Patterson's  Bridge,  as  they  had  stopped  to  encamp  for  the 
night,  while  they  were  entangled  by  their  wagons,  and  could  make  but 
little  resistance.  Some,  by  cutting  loose  the  horses,  and  joining  a  portion 
of  the  company  in  the  advance,  were  so  fortunate  as  to  escape,  unde'r  cover 
of  the  night.  Among  the  slain  was  the  mother  of  the  family,  Mrs.  Cath- 
erine Calhoun,  and  a  curious  stone,  engraved  by  a  native  artist,  marks  the 
spot  where  she  fell,  among  her  children  and  neighbors.  Two  little  girls, 
daughters  of  William  Calhoun,  brother  of  Patrick,  were  carried  into  cap- 
tivity, the  eldest  of  whom  was,  after  some  years,  rescued ;  the  other  was 
never  heard  of.— MS.  of  M.  E.  Davis.  The  grandfather  of  Mr.  Samuel 
Clark,  now  of  Beech  Island,  and  several  members  of  his  family,  were  killed 
in  the  attack.     The  wife  and  four  children  escaped. 


The  Scotch-Irish.  19 

terians  assembled,  usually,  every  evening,  to  read  and  pray, 
and  "chant  their  hymns  of  lofty  cheer."  But  the  incursions 
of  the  savages  became  so  frequent  that  these  people,  too, 
evacuated  their  fort,  and  fled  for  shelter  to  different  inte- 
rior parts.  The  same  was  true  of  the  Union  Church,  on 
Brown's  Creek.  They,  also,  betook  themselves  to  Otterson's 
Fort  for  an  asylum  ;  but  on  leaving  it,  nearly  all  the  Pres- 
byterians retired  to  Pennington's  Fort,  on  the  Enoree. 

During  this  season  of  calamity  numbers  of  the  inhabit- 
ants fell  victims  of  Indian  barbarity;  yet,  amidst  these  mel- 
ancholy scenes  of  skirmishing,  wounds,  and  death,  in  the 
intervals  of  military  duty,  this  little  band  of  Presbyterians 
kept  up  still  their  worship,  observing  sacredly  the  holy  Sab- 
bath, for  more  than  two  years  of  dreadful  anxiety  and 
hardship.  After  the  French  war  was  brought  to  a  close, 
by  the  peace  of  1763,  these  fugitives  again,  for  the  most 
part,  returned  to  their  homes,  not  always  to  remain  in 
safety.  In  the  congregation  of  Long  Canes,  about  the  end 
of  1763,  the  Creek  Indians  broke  in  and  killed  fourteen 
persons  in  one  house,  on  the  Savannah  Kiver. 

The  settlements,  however,  continued  to  increase  in 
strength,  and  their  Church  organizations  to  become  more 
complete.  To  this  the  labors  of  Mr.  Richardson  greatly 
contributed.  At  Long  Canes,  for  example,  in  1764,  in  a  few 
days,  he  baptized  about  sixty  children,  and  from  the  time  he 
left  home  till  he  returned  to  his  own  Church,  a  space  of 
about  four  or  five  weeks,  he  baptized  about  two  hundred 
and  sixty.  The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York  sent 
out  various  ministers  to  labor  as  missionaries  in  these 
distant  settlements.  In  1765  Rev.  George  Dufneld,  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  spent  three  or  four  weeks  with  the 
Long  Cane  people,  whose  bounds  had  now  become  so  large 
as  to  compel  them  to  hold  worship  in  different  places, 
which  became  the  centres  of  new  Church  organizations. 
Mr.  DufHeld  also  visited  other  Churches,  and  this  tour  of 
his  was  rich  in  religious  blessings  to  our  people.  It  would 
detain  you  to  tell  you  of  all.     Rev.  Robert  McMordie,  of 


20  The  Scotch-Irish. 

Donegal  Presbytery,  in  1766,  Mr.  McCreary,  from  Penn- 
sylvania— who  received  a  call  from  the  Long  Cane  people, 
now  separated  into  several  allied  Churches,  which  call  was 
signed  by  two  hundred  and  forty-nine  persons — Mr.  Bay, 
of  Maryland,  lather  of  the  late  Judge  Bay,  Mr.  Thomas 
Lewis,  of  Rhode  Island,  and  Mr.  Daniel  Fuller,  a  Congre- 
gationalist,  of  New  England,  in  the  years  1T67  and  1768, 
all  performed  useful  and  acceptable  missionary  service 
among  the  Churches. 

In  the  year  1771,  Rev.  Azel  Roe  and  John  Close,  of  New 
Jersey,  followed  in  their  footsteps.  They  ordained  elders 
in  the  Long  Canes  settlement,  now  Abbeville  District,  and 
administered  the  Lord's  Supper,  our  authorities  say,  for 
the  first  time  in  all  that  land.  In  1771,  Rev.  Josiah  Lewis, 
of  New  Castle  Presbytery,  administered  the  Lord's  Supper 
in  different  Churches,  and  Mr.  Lewis  ordained  the  first 
elders  in  Fairforest  Church.  Mr.  Halsey,  Mr.  Tate,  and 
Joseph  Alexander,  also  visited  them,  and  in  1778,  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  administered  to  them  for  the  first  time, 
by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Alexander  and  Simpson.  "We  find,  also, 
the  name  of  Mr.  Campbell,  probably  a  member  of  Charles- 
ton Presbytery,  and  settled  in  North  Carolina,  and  James 
Edmonds,  of  Charleston,  mentioned  as  laboring  among 
them.  In  this  way,  principally,  the  Churches  of  this  Up- 
Country  were  supplied  with  the  ordinances  of  God's  house, 
before  the  Revolution. 

Mr.  Richardson's  useful  life  was  terminated  suddenly, 
and  in  a  melancholy  way,  in  the  year  1772,  an  event  deeply 
regretted,  and  his  name  should  be  held  in  lasting  remem- 
brance. In  the  same  year  the  Rev.  John  Harris,  whose 
name  first  appears  on  the  roll  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lewes- 
town  in  1768,  and  who  visited  the  Carolinas  at  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  in  1770, 
moved  with  his  family  from  Maryland,  settled  on  the 
waters  of  Little  River,  in  Abbeville,  and  took  charge  of 
the  Churches  of  Upper  and  Lower  Long  Cane,  and  of  Bull 
Town,  or  Rocky  River.     Before  1774  he  had  removed  his 


The  Scotch-Irish.  21 

ecclesiastical  relations,  and  had  become  a  member  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Orange.*  The  Rev.  James  Creswell,  also,  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Orange,  organized  the  Church  of  Little 
River  in  1704,  and  continued  its  pastor  till  1778,  when  he 
was  removed  by  death.  The  Rev.  Joseph  Alexander,  after- 
wards Dr.  Alexander,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  a 
graduate  of  Princeton  College,  removed  from  Mecklenburg 
county,  ~N.  C,  and  became  pastor  of  Bullock's  Creek,  in 
York  District,  in  1776.  The  Rev.  John  Simpson,  born  of 
Scotch-Irish  parents  in  New  Jersey,  a  licentiate  of  "New 
Brunswick  Presbytery,  came  to  Fishing  Creek  in  the  fall 
of  1773,  and  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  Orange  as 
pastor  of  the  Churches  of  Upper  and  Lower  Fishing  Creek, 
and,  subsequently,  of  Bethesda,  in  York.  These  three  min- 
isters are  all  that  we  find  regularly  settled  over  the  Churches 
of  this  region  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution, 
with  the  exception  of  AVm.  Raynoldson,  who  came  from 
Ireland  in  consequence  of  a  call  sent  thither,  who  was 
intemperate  and  schismatic,  and  took  the  Tory  side  in  the 
Revolutionary  struggle.  Mr.  Ilezekiah  Balch  had  been 
pastor  of  Bethel  Church,  York,  but,  soon  after  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war,  removed  to  Tennessee,  and  Rev.  Thomas 
B.  Craighead  was  ordained  over  the  "Waxhaw  Church  in 
1779,  but  retired  from  the  country  the  next  year,  on  the 
appearance  of  the  British  army  in  these  parts. 

During  all  this  period  these  congregations  were  receiving 
an  increase  by  direct  immigration  from  Ireland.  Before  and 
after  the  Revolution,  the  reply  to  questions,  "  Where  are 
you  going?"  addressed  to  movers  on  the  road  from  Charles- 

*  Mr.  Harris  was  graduated  at  Nassau  Hall  in  1753,  and  on  the  12th  of 
October,  in  the  same  year,  was  taken  on  trials  by  the  Presbytery  of  New 
Castle.  In  1756  he  was  ordained  pastor  of  Indian  River,  near  Lewes,  Dela- 
ware, and  resigned  in  1700.  In  the  spring  of  that  year  he  was  sent,  by  the 
Synod,  to  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  "those  parts  of  South  Carolina 
that  are  under  our  care."  In  1771,  the  Synod  ordered  him  to  supply  at 
Hitchcock's  and  Cartridge  Creek,  in  Anson  County,  North  Carolina,  for 
three  months.  He  joined  Orange  Presbytery  in  1774,  and  was  set  off,  with 
five  others,  in  1784,  to  form  South  Carolina  Presbytery. — Webster,  p.  670. 


22  The  Scotch-Irish. 

ton,  would  be,  "to  Chaster"  or,  "to  Long  Canes."  Some, 
as  the  father  of  Dr.  Waddel,  who  arrived  in  Charleston  in 
1776,  passed  through  this  province  to  the  Up-Country  of 
North  Carolina. 

Now  came  the  war  of  the  Ee volution,  with  all  its  severe 
trials.  Not  the  least  of  these  sprung,  in  this  upper  coun- 
try, from  different  views  on  the  merits  of  the  contest. 
Most  of  the  Scotch-Irish  took  the  side  of  the  Colonies,  the 
emigrants  from  Scotland  direct  were  more  inclined  to  the 
Eoyal  cause.  This  division  of  opinion  prevailed  the  most 
extensively  in  the  region  between  the  Broad  and  Saluda 
Rivers ;  in  some  places  the  Eoyalists  outnumbering  the 
Whigs.  In  the  fall  of  1775  the  memorable  tour  of  Eev. 
"Wm.  Tennent  and  ¥m.  Henry  Drayton,  sent  out  by  the 
Committee  of  Safety  in  Charleston,  and  accompanied  by 
Col.  Richardson,  Joseph  Kershaw,  and  the  Eev.  Mr.  Hart, 
of  the  Baptist  Church,  was  made,  for  the  purpose  of 
strengthening  the  friends  of  resistance,  confirming  the 
wavering,  and  confuting  the  Eoyalists.  They  commenced 
their  efforts  among  the  Germans  about  Gran  by,  with  poor 
success.  Mr.  Tennent  would  preach,  and  afterwards  ad- 
dress the  people  on  public  affairs.  He  crossed  the  Saluda 
at  Beard's  Falls,  preached  at  Jackson's  Creek,  Fairfield;  at 
Eocky  Creek  Meeting  House,  in  Chester,  (now  Catholic 
Church,)  at  Fishing  Creek — where  he  found  in  Eev.  Mr. 
Simpson  a  congenial  spirit — at  the  Eev.  Mr.  Alexander's, 
on  Bullock's  Creek;  at  Bersheeba  Church,  in  the  north- 
western part  of  York;  at  another  Church  of  Mr.  Alexan- 
der's, on  Thicketty  Creek.  He  met  the  Tories,  "the  nabob 
Fletchall,"*  the  two  Cunninghams,  and  Brown,  afterwards 

*  His  name  is  spelled  Fletcher  by  Mr.  Saye,  but  Fletchall  in  Mr.  Ten- 
nent's  Journal  and  elsewhere.  He  lived  at  McBeth's  Mill,  in  Union  District, 
was  taken  prisoner  by  Col.  Thompson  and  his  men  in  1775,  (being  found 
hidden  in  a  cave,)  and  was  sent  to  Charleston  by  Col.  Kichardson,  with  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  others.  After  the  fall  of  Charleston  he  held  a  com- 
mission under  the  Crown.     His  estate  was  confiscated  in  1782. 


The  Scotch-Irish,  23 

a  famous  Tory  officer,  at  the  muster-ground  at  Mr.  Ford's, 
on  the  Enoree.  He  stayed  with  James  Williams,  on  Little 
Kiver,  who  afterwards  fell  at  King's  Mountain,  and  at 
whose  house  he  was  hospitably  entertained ;  he  preached 
for  Mr.  Creswell,  who  ministered  there  and  at  Ninety-Six  ; 
preached  on  Long  Cane,  at  Boonesborough;*  at  one  of  Mr. 
Harris'  preaching  sheds ;  and  on  all  these  occasions,  after 
the  religious  service,  he  addressed  the  people  on  public 
affairs.  In  this  instance  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Harris  and  Mr.  Salvador.  He  also  preached  at  Bull  Town, 
and  talked  afterwards  for  three  hours  on  the  great  question 
of  those  times ;  spent  the  night  at  Patrick  Calhoun's;  visited 
Fort  Charlotte  ;  took  a  military  survey  of  the  whole;  gave 
orders  to  build  the  platforms  for  lighting  the  cannon  and 
small  arms.  In  the  intervals  of  his  preaching,  all  along, 
he  was  obtaining  signatures  to  the  Association,  and  forming 
volunteer  companies,  like  a  man  in  dead  earnest.  He 
crossed  the  Savannah,  passed  down  to  Augusta,  called  at 
Capt.  Hammond's  on  Snow  Hill,  found  his  house  "forted," 
and  one  of  the  finest  situations  in  the  whole  colony ;  found 
a  large  body  of  militia  there  ready  to  move  with  Wm, 
Henry  Drayton  upon  the  Tories;  found  every  considerable 
house  in  Augusta  fortified.  The  whole  journal  is  a  remark- 
able record  of  a  most  important  mission,  disclosing  the 
eloquence,  activity,  and  energy  of  one  of  our  Scotch-Irish 

*  This  was  the  site  o'f  Fort  Boone,  called,  probably,  in  honor  of  Thomas 
Boone,  Governor  of  the  Province.  It  was  built  for  defence  against  the 
Indians,  and  was  resorted  to  afterward  for  protection  from  marauding  par- 
ties, whether  Indian  or  Tory.  It  was  a  palisade  fort,  with  port-holes,  and 
had  within  a  school  house,  minister's  house,  and  other  log  buildings. 
Much  of  the  catechetical  and  other  instructions  of  Mr.  Harris  were  given 
in  this  and  other  forts.  The  father  of  Rev.  Dr.  Gray,  now  of  LaGrange, 
Tennessee,  and  his  aunt,  a  venerable  lady,  not  long  since  deceased,  attended 
as  pupils  and  catechumens  of  Rev.  John  Harris,  in  Fort  Boone.  The  preach- 
ing station  was  the  origin  of  the  Church  of  Hopewell,  built  afterwards 
about  three  miles  distant,  and  known  at  different  times  as  Fort  Boone, 
Boonesborough,  and  Hopewell  Church. — MS.  of  M.  E.  D. 


24  The  Scotch-Irish. 

Presbyterian  ministers,  son  of  the  celebrated  Willi^n  Ten- 
nent,  who  lay  in  the  trance  and  saw  things  which  it  was 
not  lawful  to  utter. 

We  feel  ourselves  burdened  with  the  multitude  of  tradi- 
tions which  crowd  upon  us,  and  which  belong  to  this  period. 
The  Up-Country  eventually  became,  to  a  large  extent,  the 
battle-ground  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  where  the 
tide  was  turned  in  our  favor.  But  the  whole  contest  was 
one  of  cruel  suffering.  The  most  bloody  foes  your  fathers 
had  were  neighbors  reared  with  them,  acquainted  with  all 
their  ways,  and  more  unforgiving  than  those  who  had 
crossed  the  ocean  to  fight  us.  Your  soil  was  the  camping- 
ground  of  friendly  and  hostile  forces,  resounding  under  the 
hoofs  both  of  Washington's  and  Tarleton's  dragoons,  and 
wet  with  the  blood  of  your  kindred  and  their  foes. 

Through  the  diligence  and  labor  of  your  pastor,  we  have 
been  able  to  learn  the  story  of  "the  Plundering  Scout," 
who  passed  through  these  neighborhoods  some  eighty-four 
years  ago,  taking  every  thing  thnt  could  be  of  value  to 
them,  horses,  cattle,  beds,  and  bedding ;  hanging  one  aged 
man  in  his  own  gate-way,  and  hacking  another  with  their 
broad-swords.  And  of  the  "Bloody  Scout,"  of  which 
"Bloody  Bill  Cunningham"  was  the  presiding  genius,  who 
came  after,  like  Death  on  the  pale  horse,  and  Hell  follow- 
ing; of  their  killing  the  sick  man  (Capt.  Steadman)  in  his 
bed ;  of  their  hacking  the  boy,  John  Caldwell,  in  pieces ; 
of  their  killing  John  and  James  Wood;  and  the  last,  not- 
withstanding his  wife's  entreaties;  and  of  the  death  of  John 
Snoddy  at  their  bloody  hands.  If  the  cruel  chieftain,  Wil- 
liam Cunningham,  led  this  party,  their  acts  are  not  to  be 
wondered  at.  He  that  could  shoot  his  neighbor,  John 
Caldwell,  in  his  own  yard,  in  his  wife's  presence,  could 
hew  down,  at  Hay's  Station,  Daniel  Williams  and  his 
brother  Joseph,  a  lad  of  fourteen,  both  brothers  of  Col. 
Williams,  who  fell  at  the  head  of  the  South  Carolina 
column  at  King's  Mountain,  and  could  encourage  his  fol- 


The  Scotch-Irish.  25 

lowers  to  torture  the  wounded  and  dying,  was  capable  of 
all  this. 

We  have  read  of  the  bravery  of  your  men — of  Major 
David  Anderson,  who  fought  at  Ninety-Six,  at  the  siege  of 
Charleston,  at  Eutaw  Springs,  and  at  Augusta  ;  of  Captain 
Andrew  Barry,  who  met  the  foe  at  Musgrove's  Mill  and 
the  Cowpens;  of  Captain  John  Collins,  who  fought  on 
many  fields,  both  in  Carolina  and  Georgia. 

We  have  read  of  Col.  Thomas,  of  Fairforest,  who  com- 
manded the  Spartan  Eegiment  till  the  fall  of  Charleston, 
three  of  whose  sons  watered  the  tree  of  Liberty  with  their 
own  blood,  and  whose  sons-in-law  held  commissions  in  the 
war.  Of  Win.  Kennedy,  Samuel  McJunkin,  Major  Joseph 
McJunkin,  Gen.  Thos.  Brandon,  Capt.  Win.  Savage,  Col. 
Hughs,  and  Major  Otterson,  in  old  Brown's  Creek  Church, 
below,  who,  with  one  other  man,  captured  thirty  of  Tarle- 
ton's  cavalry  on  their  retreat  from  Cowpens;  and  of  Samuel 
Clowney,  of  Fairforest,  who,  with  his  negro  man,  captured 
four  of  the  enemy. 

We  have  read  of  the  brave  women  of  the  Revolution — 
among  them,  of  Mrs.  Thomas,  of  Fairforest,  and  her  ride 
of  fifty  miles,  from  Ninety-Six,  where  her  husband  was 
prisoner,  to  Cedar  Springs,  to  warn  her  neighbors  and 
children  there  of  a  threatened  attack,  and  of  the  heroic  de- 
fence of  her  house  by  Culbertson,  her  son-in-law,  who  fired 
on  the  large  band  of  attacking  Tories,  while  she,  her 
daughters,  and  her  son  Willie,  loaded;  of  Mrs.  Dillarcl, 
and  her  arrival  on  a  gallop,  to  warn  the  camp  of  Col. 
Clarke,  at  Green  Spring  on  Lawson's  Fork,  after  she  had 
prepared  supper  for  the  Tory  band,  led  by  Ferguson  and 
Dunlop ;  of  Dicey  Langston,  who  forded  the  Tyger  River 
at  the  dead  hour  of  night,  the  waters  reaching  to  her  neck, 
floundering  on,  in  bewilderment  at  times,  to  warn  the  set- 
tlement, where  her  brother  lived,  of  the  "Bloody  Scout ;" 
of  Ann  Hamilton,  who  seized  the  Tory  that  was  firing  her 
father's  house,  by  his  collar,  and  hurled  him  down  the 
4 


20  The  Scotch-Irish. 

stairs.  There  were  Scotch-Irish  Elders  in  this  upper 
country,  such  as  Gen.  Pickens,  Major  Otterson,  Col. 
James  Williams,  who  fell  at  King's  Mountain,  with  three 
hundred  and  seventy-five  Eoyalist  enemies  killed  or 
wounded,  and  various  others,  that  did  their  country  good 
service  in  that  conflict.  There  were  Presbyterian  Minis- 
ters of  the  Gospel  who  helped  on  the  cause  of  freedom. 
The  classic  Alexander,  from  his  pulpit  in  the  "old  Log 
Meeting-House,"  at  Bullock's  Creek,  and  some  times  here, 
also,  would  discourse  with  inspiring  eloquence  of  his  coun- 
try's wrongs,  while  the  stalwart  men  and  brave  lads,  with 
rifle  in  hand,  kept  guard  over  him  and  the  worshippers 
alike.  There  was  John  Simpson,  at  Fishing  Creek,  who 
stirred  up  his  people  to  take  up-  arms  against  the  enemy, 
and  set  them  the  example.  He  shouldered  his  rifle,  and 
was  in  the  engagements  at  Beckhamville  and  Mobley's, 
and  was  with  Sumter  in  1780 — was  with  him  when  sur- 
prised by  Tarleton  at  the  Catawba  Ford,  and  narrowly 
escaped  with  his  life.  As  a  consequence  of  his  zeal,  his 
house  was  plundered  and  burnt ;  his  study  and  library  set 
on  fire  and  consumed,  save  the  few  books  Mrs.  Simpson 
could  carry  forth  in  her  apron.  James  Creswell  and  John 
Harris  lent  their  aid,  too,  to  the  good  cause.  You  might 
have  seen  the  latter,  now  fleeing  from  his  vindictive  ene- 
mies and  taking  refuge  in  the  thickets  of  the  forest,  now 
in  his  pulpit  on  the  Sabbath,  his  gun  in  the  desk  beside 
him,  his  ammunition  suspended  from  his  neck,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  day,  the  reverent  worshippers  bowing  upon 
their  arms  as  he  fervently  lead  the  public  prayer,  or,  with 
upturned  faces,  listening  to  the  words  of  truth  and  sober- 
ness, so  much  needed  in  that  time  of  peril,  which  came 
from  a  sincere  and  feeling  heart,  though  uttered  with  stam- 
mering lips.  In  another  neighborhood,  on  Eocky  Creek, 
(waters  of  the  Catawba,)  the  eccentric  William  Martin,  the 
only  Covenanter  Minister  then  in  the  Colony,  with  tremen- 
dous energy  roused  the  people  to  defend  their  homes  and 


The  Scotch-Irish  27 

avenge  the  blood  of  their  slaughtered  friends,  and  the  cruel 
injuries  of  the  wounded  men,  whose  mutilated  forms  might 
be  seen  in  the  old  Church  of  Waxhaw,  converted  into  a 
hospital  after  Buford's  defeat,  and  filled  with  the  groans  of 
the  wounded,  instead  of  the  songs  of  worshippers. 

Such  were  your  heroic  ancestors.  Around  you  are 
places  memorable,  if  not  as  fields  where  great  battles  were 
fought  with  vast  armies,  yet  for  important  engagements. 
Some  times  the  fortunes  of  war  were  against  us,  as  at  the 
Waxhaws,  Rocky  Mount,  and  Fishing  Creek;  but  for  the 
most  part,  were  in  our  favor,  as  at  Green  Spring,  Musgrove's 
Mill,  Cedar  Spring,  Hanging  Rock,  Beckhamville,  Wateree 
Ford,  King's  Mountain,  Hugely 's  Mills,  Fishclam  Ford, 
Blackstock's,  and  the  Cowpens,  a  battle  all-important  to 
the  establishment  of  our  independence,  which  turned  the 
tide  of  war  away  from  these  mountains  and  valleys,  and 
was  the  first  in  those  successive  steps  which  rescued  Car- 
olina and  the  remaining  Colonies  from  British  oppression. 
Before  us  this  day  are  the  descendants  of  those  brave  men 
who  had  a  hand  in  all  these  deeds  of  valor,  and  those  he- 
roic women  who  sustained  them,  and  some  times  rescued 
them  in  the  perilous  conflict. 

The  Scotch-Irish,  too,  were  well  acquainted  with  the 
principles  of  constitutional  liberty  and  representative  gov- 
ernment. The  English  Puritans  had  done  their  share — the 
Hampdens  and  Sydneys  of  the  days  of  Cromwell;  old  John 
Knox  and  the  signers  of  the  Solemn  League  and  Cove- 
nant— the  brave  old  men  that  inscribed  on  their  banner, 
"For  Christ's  Crown  and  Covenant" — those  whose  views, 
and  faith,  and  discipline,  were  of  the  Genevan  type;  but 
the  men  of  North  Ireland,  in  this  country,  seem  to  have 
excelled  them  all  in  hatred  of  oppression  and  in  the  love 
of  regulated  liberty.  The  native  Scotch  and  the  Scotch- 
Irish  have  not  always  agreed.  Scotch  communities  in  these 
Colonies  some  times  sided  with  the  Crown,  but  the  Scotch- 
Irish  always  with  the  friends  of  liberty.     We  have  not 


28  The  Scotch-Irish. 

time  to  enter  into  the  discussion  now.  But  we  claim  that 
the  views  of  the  thoughtful  men  of  this  stock  have  been 
borne  out  in  a  very  especial  manner  in  the  constitutions  of 
our  American  governments. 

Another  thing  we  claim  for  this  race  of  men — yet  not  for 
them  alone — a  high  valuation  of  the  blessings  of  education. 
This  they  have  in  common  with  the  native  Scotch.  In- 
deed, we  might  allow,  if  any  should  claim  it,  the  supe- 
riority of  these.  They  certainly  set  the  bright  example,  as 
the  mother  Church.  It  is  one  great  feature  of  Protestant- 
ism, in  opposition  to  Papacy.  It  is  especially  a  feature 
of  the  Calvinistic  faith,  as  developed  and  carried  forth 
among  our  fathers.  It  is  the  education,  not  simply  of  the 
intellect,  training  it  to  feats  of  dialectics,  storing  it  with 
ancient  lore,  or  making  it  sensitive,  like  the  Grecian  mind, 
to  outward  beauty.  It  is  the  education,  rather,  of  the  whole 
man,  aimed  at  the  religious  principle  within  as  first,  inform- 
ing it  with  the  knowledge  which  is  not  of  the  earth,  earthy, 
but  is  of  heavenly  origin — seeking  first  to  establish  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  within,  and  then  adding,  over  and  above, 
all  these  things  of  use  and  beauty,  to  make  up  the  perfect 
man. 

From  our  earliest  history,  therefore,  the  Church  and  the 
school-house  have  gone  together.  As  soon  as  rude  dwell- 
ings could  be  erected  in  the  primeval  forest,  there  was  a 
rude  Church  to  stand  at  some  central  point,  and  a  rude 
school-house  by  its  side,  or  elsewhere,  where,  with  the 
catechism  of  the  "Westminster  Divines,  and  God's  Holy 
Word,  the  elements  of  an  English  and  a  classical  education 
were  obtained.  To  the  more  private  school  succeeded  the 
academy,  and  then  the  college,  above  which  the  university, 
after  the  European  model,  is,  in  some  few  places,  seeking 
to  rise. 

Of  the  ministers  whom  we  have  named,  Dr.  Joseph  Alex- 
ander, of  Bullock's  Creek,  was  a  noted  teacher,  resorted  to 
by  many  young  men  who  afterwards  rose  to  distinction  in 


The  Scotch-Irish.  29 

society.  We  have  heard  the  late  Gov.  David  Johnson 
speak  of  him  as  an  accomplished  scholar,  and  in  terms  of 
the  highest  praise.  "He  gave  me  all  the  education,"  said 
he,  "  I  ever  had."  Another  of  these  schools  was  taught  by 
James  Gilleland,  Jr.,  on  the  Tyger  River,  in  which  Samuel 
B.  Wilson,  of  the  Union  Seminary,  was  taught.  Of  Dr. 
Moses  Waddel,  Mr.  Calhoun,  who  was  his  pupil,  said : 
"He  was  the  father  of  classical  education  in  the  Up-Coun- 
try."  McDuffie,  Legare,  Petigru,  Judge  Butler,  Wm.  H. 
Crawford,  and  many  other  distinguished  men,  were  among 
his  pupils.  Indeed,  it  is  the  testimony  of  old  men,  reared 
in  this  portion  of  the  State,  that  education  was  altogether 
in  the  hands  of  our  own  people,  and  conducted  chiefly  by 
our  Ministers. 

Many  of  these  schools  obtained  notoriety,  and  received 
incorporation.  The  Mount  Zion  College  and  Society  was 
incorporated  in  177T,  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and, 
under  the  able  Presidency  of  Rev.  Thos.  Harris  McCaule, 
conferred  degrees,  and  was  very  flourishing.  From  1786 
to  1795,  sixteen  candidates  for  the  ministry,  from  its  walls — 
Wm.  C.  Davis  being  the  first,  and  John  Cousar  the  last — 
were  licensed  by  the  old  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina, 
under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly.  Xine  }Tears  be- 
fore this,  in  1768,  Rev.  James  Creswell  and  others  were 
incorporated  as  the  ''Salem  Society,"  to  support  a  school 
and  seminary  of  learning  near  Little  River  Meeting-House, 
in  the  district  of  Xinety-Six.  The  school  taught  by  Rev. 
John  Springer,  at  Old  Cambridge,  was  chartered  as  a  col- 
lege. In  1778  the  Catholic  Society,  in  Sumter,  was  char- 
tered for  the  same  interest.  In  1797  Rev.  James  Templeton, 
James  Jordan,  and  others,  were  incorporated  as  "  The 
Spartanburg  Philanthropic  Society,"  for  the  erection  of  an 
academy,  and  at  the  same  time  the  Rev.  Joseph  Alexander, 
James  Templeton,  John  Simpson,  Francis  Cummings,  and 
others,  received  incorporation  as  "The  Trustees  of  Alexan- 


30  The  Scotch-Irish. 

dria  College,"  to  be  erected  near  Pinckueyville,  where  Dr. 
Alexander  bad  long  taught. 

It  is  pleasant  to  see  the  same  value  put  upon  educational 
institutions  by  the  generation  and  the  congregation  before 
us.  The  High  Schools,  male  and  female,  which  you  have 
reared,  and  the  pleasant  Village  of  Reidville,  which  has 
grown  up  around  them  in  these  three  years  past,  are 
evidences  of  this,  and  auguries  of  good  to  your  children 
after  you. 

Thus  have  we  detained  you  long  with  the  history  of  your 
ancestors.  They  have  been  called  pugnacious.  This  char- 
acter belongs  to  the  excitable  Milesian,  of  Southern  Ireland, 
but  your  ancestors  were  law-abiding,  and  when  they  fought, 
it  was  not  in  passion,  nor  self-will,  but  for  a  just  and  regu- 
lated liberty.  They  have  been  called  head-strong  and 
obstinate.  But  they  had  only  that  tenacity  of  purpose 
which  even  the  Roman  Horace  praises — which  succumbs 
not  in  adversity — which  bears  up  under  discouragements, 
and  stops  not  till  its  noble  purposes  are  accomplished. 
They  have  been  called  over-scrupulous,  but  they  did  not 
stand  divided  and  hesitating,  like  the  Scotch  Presbyterians 
at  the  battle  of  Bothwell  Brig,  till  their  enemies  over- 
whelmed them.  One  common  soul  possessed  them  in  their 
hour  of  peril. 

The  faith  which  they  professed — the  religious  element 
which  underlies  their  character — gave  them  energy  of  pur- 
pose, as  it  has  to  all  who  have  embraced  it.  That  Calvinism 
which  was  the  terror  of  kings  and  the  friend  of  republics ; 
which  the  dissolute  Charles  II.  declared  was  not  fit  for  a 
gentleman,  because  it  lifted  the  lowly  into  greatness, 
making  him  a  king  and  a  priest  unto  God ;  which  took 
the  liberties  of  England  into  its  keeping,  and  restrained 
absolute  monarchy  in  France,  Scotland,  England,  and  Ire- 
land; which  claimed  intelligence  for  the  people,  and 
planted  the  common  school  in  every  congregation ;  which 
gathered  the   children   morning    and    night  around    the 


The  Scotch-Irish.  31 

hearth-stones,  to  listen  to  the  Word  of  God,  to  chant 
the  sacred  psalm,  and  hearken  to  the  voice  of  prayer; 
which  inspired  the  maidens  of  those  days  with  lofty  cour- 
age ;  which  made  your  patriot  sires  take  down  their  trusty 
rifles  and  go  forth,  in  God's  name,  believing  that  their 
neighbors,  animated  by  the  same  motives,  would  be  found 
by  their  side,  as  they  fought  for  their  wives  and  their  chil- 
dren, and,  above  all,  for  the  glorious  heritage  of  freedom 
which  their  fathers  had  left  them ;  this,  we  hesitate  not  to 
say,  had  far  more  to  do  with  their  energy  of  character  than 
most  are  willing  to  allow. 

Noble  men  !  noble  women  !  matrons  and  maidens  both, 
who  inhabited  these  wilds  when  the  night  air  was  broken 
by  the  howl  of  the  wolf  and  the  piteous  cry  of  the  panther ! 
who  gathered  into  your  forted  houses  when  the  painted 
Indian  or  cruel  Tory  were  prowling  around !  Ministers  of 
God !  Richardson,  Alexander,  Simpson,  Creswell,  Harris, 
venerable  Elders  over  the  Saviour's  flock !  leaders,  too, 
oftimes,  on  the  ensanguined  field  !  Williams,  who  fell  fore- 
most on  the  gory  sod !  Pickens,  hero  in  many  a  battle ! 
Ye  leaders  of  true-hearted  men !  Thomas,  Anderson,  Moore, 
Williamson,  Collins,  and  ye  men  that  were  led  by  them  to 
victory  or  death  !  we  cherish  your  memories  this  day.  We 
rehearse  the  story  of  your  deeds  and  sufferings.  We  would 
be  encouraged  by  your  example  to  go  forth  on  every  holy 
and  honorable  path.  We  would  gather  strength  from  you — 
your  principles,  your  religion,  and  your  God — to  press  on 
in  the  contest  in  which  we  are  even  now  engaged,  that  we 
may  fight  your  battles  over  on  a  grander  scale,  and  secure 
anew  that  inheritance  of  freedom  and  right  transmitted  by 
you  to  us,  and  which,  but  for  this  effort,  is  for  ever  lost ! 


